Machine for grinding lenses



1927. May L. w. BUGBEE MACHINE FOR GRINDING LENSES Filed Oct. 6. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. zue/fl/v W. fiusazz-r.

A TTORNEYS.

1 630,253 May fillw. BUGBEE MACHINE FOR GRINDING LENSES Filed Oct. 6. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR. lac/01v 14423 6 A TTORNEYJ.

" LUCIAN' w. BUGBEE, or :IZNDIANALEPOLIS, INDIANA, AssiGnoR, BYQMESNE 'hssIGN f MENTS, To GONTINENTAL'OETICAL .GORPQRATIQN,LQF ivnwyonnnw YL,-. A R- PORATIION OF DELAWA MACI-iI NEFORLGRiNlJING v [Application filed October 6, 1924; Serial noftieooe'f This machine "isfor generating the bifocal surfaces of bifocal lensblanks of a target for mby the line grind ng process;

mid it isan improvement over the appa- 5 ratus setrforth in applicantls former apphcation for a bifocal lens grind ng mach ne;

Serial No. 689,237, filediJanuary. 29,1924,"

One new feature of tlnsimproved machine -consists in providinge positive stop ladjust .ably mounted on the-i: spindle which carries thelens holding block for engaging a part ofthe apparatus, which is fixed during the grinding'operation, for limiting the feed-f the grinder.

iniinounting' the lens holding spindle inza. bearing sleeve which is longitudinally ad- Qju's'tnble'with reference bothto the 'spin'dle an'd to the rfrzuncf'of the zt 'aparatus, and

'mea-ns for clamping'it in adju'sted position, and mezinsfor "conveniently 'moving said sleeve longitudinally, whereby the lens hold ing spindle, may be retracted forthepurpose of removing and replacing the lens .block on the spindle. 'A'long withgfseid sleeve there is theprovision of a collzir lsecured on. the spindle near, theinner. end thereof-adapted to be engaged'by the sleeve;

matically stop thegrinding of the lens' 'when it has beensufficiently iground. i 7 p I Another featurev of theinvention consists v in the means for givingithe lensholding spindle its feedinginove nent, consisting of a rod parallel with the spindlennd longitudinallymovable with means at one endin tending" to move it' towards the grinder,

which will cause the rod to give the lens .holding spindle afyielding "feeding movement, and a, stop collar on said rod for 'adjusting the tension ofthe spring and'for respindle is inountedpfor properly adjusting ling movement of theflens holder towards I J V y f all chance f or undesirablemovement of'the 1 Another feature of this invention consists;v

' to aminimu'm.

the fstoplsofes'to; cause-the zippa rzttusto i stop .thegrinding' of the lens blank when the i f desired Ithickness'jof glass has. been ground thereon, Another feature of the'inventioil consists in "the arrangement of said lens holdinginea-ns on opposite sides ofthe rotary grinder. 6 so that a. plurality of lens blanks 'cen befl f ground at the same: tinie; the lenshol ding means; having no movement .duringfjthe grinding operation excepting airotaryinove- I 1 in'ent and the longitudlnal feeding IY1 0IV8' 5 ment, whereby'the two-{oppositeflens. hold-g J ing means Will counteract each. other,

lens holders and the grinjderwillbereduced The full nnture of 'the' inventionl willibe understood from'the acico npanyingidiraw f ings and the. followingjdescription fend. claim I In the drawings, Figure 1 is-afp'lan view 75. offs 'ba tteryfofwlens"grinding 'inachinesof the kind herein described operating froin a.- jsingle, d riving sh ft, pa rts being. broken" away. Fig. 2'is a side elevatiori of one 'of' the grinding machines shown in Fig QEI,

with parts showing central-vertical sections,

p the mechinefbeing" in its; position at the 30 and a positive stop mounted on the spindle --in positionto engage said'sleeve,and autd,v

close of a, grinding operation. with thejlens still in place. Fig.3 is a sectionsiinilarto "the upper part of Fig; 2,'showing the posi-v I- tion of the parts of thejlen's' holfding media nism when idleorwhenlthe lens is retracted from the grinder. 131g. {is a s inilar-view showing the partsof'the machine when it has moved the lens holder '5 and blank to 9'0 5" I bring the blank in contactwith'the grinder engagement with the spindle, Wherebyit can j i i i i 40 movethe spindle, and'a spring on s'aid rod and-before grinding. Fig. 5. is' similarfto Fig. 4, withthestop in itsadjustedposit'ion "and with the stop gauge applied thereto, for

setting the machinesothetfit willautorn'zttw 'ically' grind awayspredeterminedthickness of the lens blank so as to provide-the de sired extent of grinding or the ie Fig.6- i .is similar to Fig.'5i with thestop geuge removed and the feed spring adjusted for yieldingly i holding the lens against the grinder. Fig. 7 is a plan. viewof-ja pitftgO f 1 the grinding wheel; 1F ig. 8 'ispe spectiye view of ettarget bifocal lens b I l lank such a l: is ground bythis machine.

. 10s]- The bifocallens grindingfl h i gh re n 1 i describedis operated in batteries asgillu'strated in Fig. l. a By reason of the automatiel operation ofv the lens, l iolding-mechanism after the lens has been mounted and said mechanism has heenadjusted, one' m an' is s enabledzto-loperate a great many: inaehines or lensholding mechanisms, say sixteen in-a f-hattery, a1id to keep theinall at work as will hereafter befexplainedf; i

There is a table v extend ng a full length, of the battery of machines supported by a frame 11 of any suitable construction. In

7 said frame under said table there isinounted ingmachines in the battery; The grinding a. drivin shown,

machines areharran'ged in thebatt ry,

and extending vertically through openings 7 {carrying two bearing stands 18: that'jextend -upward fromfthe table l O,"-ffa's' .shown in Neareach end'ofsaid shaftlG'sin abrasive i grinding wheel 20'is mo-unted an'diclamped I inplace byj the nut 21 bearinghgainst the 3-5."Washer" 221'and the collar 28' slid'ab'le .ofnthe I ,THence, these one motion, that is? shaft 16 and held thereonby the setts'e'rew rotation, Their circumferential surface isthejgrinding surface and a 7 fit iseshaped to grind niulti-focal surfaces on f'to gr'ind bifocal lenses. Atargetlens blank:

1 100 is ground on. oneside thereof to generatelenses. The grinders 20. herein are shaped two concentric fields, a}central orfinner field 101 for near vision and a'surrounding field Z f' s Thi'sffta-rget blank after ithas been-[ground 7 [is split eentrally on the; dotted lin'e 1037130" iformfapai'r of seini-cireiilar lens blanks of" V f'si nilar characterfrom which a. pair of'lenses Ii's Qafterwards cutalong the dotted line 10 i.

IOQfor distance .Vision, vas seen in Fig; 8.

'Iheiefore, the circumferential surface of the grinder QO is shap d 't'ojhave three zones extending around the grinder, one Zone 121 ,beingintermediate the other zones 122, and

J f L eter of the readingfield desired to befgronnd upon the center of the target lens blank'100, v

,seeFigsg and 8,1 The zone 121 has a transsaid-Zone having af width equal to the diain- Verse curvature adapted to form thedesired curvatureqofjthe readlng field; The two lateral izones 122 have the same transverse v cur iature"which; however, differs from the "curvatu e of the zone 121 and 1s such'as to 'generate the desired} curvature] of the lis- 7 "tance field of the' tar'getblank.

0' shaft 12"drivenbyyineans not which shaft operatesfall of the grind rrinding wheels have only;

' mechanisms g1 QLip. a11d the total battery. are arranged pp te pairs, as shown in F 'gi-l so that there is one lens holding;mechanism on each V p side ofzcach grinderand' hence two lenses may be ground at the sar'netinie: by the saineff 1 grinder, but on opposite sidesTt-hereof. In;

grinding. the lenses held by the twoOppO-j 1 sitely" loatedilens', holding mechanisms, the 5 grinder grinds one lens on an upward move-" ment and the other lens on a downward v movement. The lensi'blanks are rotated onfl an axis at a right angle to the axis of the grinder and the radius of the grinder is niuch' less' than the radius of the curvature "groundjon the lens blank Q38 indicated infw Fig. 2 so that only line grindingjresults, and a not surface grinding. I.

A constant stream of water applied to the, ,g rinder both above; and below each lens'hlankbeing-ground, asshow'nby;

the nozzles 26 a'ndiZ? connected withthe water pipe. 28', as seeniinlFig. 2.

'Theiconstructi'on and operation of one ot the lens holding 'rn'echanisins will now be described; There. is mounted on the' table 10 a frame 30 with two-upwardly ex- 7 Wilding r i .31; and 1- 2,.having their Upper ends respectively the splithousing is mounted The tapering end;ofi-theg' spindle carries the lenfs block or holde'ri36. The split 'h ou'singfl33 carries ewithin it a bearing sleeve87. The partsgrarefarranged sothat thejaxis of the spindle 35 I at right 7 angles .to; the axis 'ofithe shaft; 16' onwhich thejgrinderj isiii'iounted and'i intersectssaid? xi ;esysl ir irin-F g-P q he la i e 1 ipositions offthe'se twoiaxes are fixed and ;never change during the grinding operation.

Thespindle 35 has. rigidlysecured on it afcollar 881fnear its inner end-whichis adapted to sahut against and engage the end I V of the sleeve 37 when theparts are properly adjusted -foiffoperation. The spindle @85 is "driizen loy g thefl sprocket wheel 39 on the outer end thereof. and thesprocket QliELlH'Q-lO-theiQ- on, which v is driven by thecountereshaft 12 f shaft 12.

The split housiiig 8 "is tightened and vadjusted by the clamping screw ll, which.,

claniped 0n the sleeve 37 after it has been tllroiigh intermediate gearing, n0t"her e" sho'wn, whereby all the 1 mechanism ofallQ 'theibattery of grinders and lens-holding are operated froni i'theg -sarne (i has an angular-handle 1 at'the upper end. The sleeve 37 has :,a rack 42 on -the under f sideextending longitudinally thereof, which is engagedby api'nion 43 ona shaft 4st I V, mounted infthe' frame portion and eX- r tending. ,transversely of the sleeve 37 and the shaft-l is turned by-the hand wheel4=5.

' Thejlens bl'ock'j36 has a shank with ei-ed socket to j'fit on the tapered 'end'of the 33 and the bearings 34 in whichth i dl are at right angles to each other'and duringspindle as isusuaiinhn's: grinding-ma- Chll'lGS. Theface of the'lens block may" be, of any form suitable to carry the lens blank whichis cementedthereto' the 'b'ifocal lens blankfw'vhichis usually relatively "thin and can'be molded to approximately theultimate curvature fof'the surfaces of the lens blank after beinggroundand,there;

fore, thesurface 'ofthe lens block onwhich p I as-seen in Fig, v But, after the parts -oi' the-in ec'han-ism have been adjusted as hereto the lensblan'ks in the -machine, asshown in the drawings hereof, has a' much greater radius of curvature vertically than? the grinder, as seen in Figs. 3,"e'te;-

2 "The lens blocl 'and lens rotate, and the grinder and thelens block both rotate in thegrinding operation on their axes, which the grinding operation these parts have no other motioni Intl'nsmachine the per pheralcurvature of the grinder ismuch greater than that of the lens surface to be generated, as Ind cated 1n the drawings, although the transverse curvatureof the grinder is the same as the correspondingcurvature/ofthe surface to be generated on the lens. blank. The' result "of this-"arrangement is that only the line grinding.

The idle position of the 'lens holding mech{ anism is shown in F ig. 3, wherein the lens does not touch the "rinder. The first step in the adjustment oi the lens holding mechanism, therefore, is to turn the hand wheel l5 clockwise so'as to move the sleeve 37 on the spindle up against the collar 38, as seen in Fig. 4. Further movement of the hand 'yvheel' l5 and sleeve 37 to the right will move the spindle and lens holder so as to bring the lens blank against the grinder, as seen in Fig. 4. Then thehousing 33'is tightened by turning the clamping rod 4L1 so that it will'clamp the sleeve 37 andhold it in fixed operation. r V I The next step in the adjustment of the machine is to locate the stop on the spindle 35 in proper relation to the outer end of the sleeve 37 so to limit the rindin of the lens blank and prevent further grinding thereof after the desired thickness of the glass has been ground away, although the machine willcontinue to run. The stop 50 is clamped when adjusted on the spindle A gauge plate 52,"whi ch by the screw. 51. is of the same thickness as the amount of glass which itis desired to grind away from the lens blank, is provided and temporarily inserted against the outer end of the sleeve 37 and the stop 50 is moved up against such gauge plate, as seen in Fig. 5, and then tightened and the gauge plate removed. That leaves a space between the sleeve and the stop, as seen in Fig. 6.

in adjusting the tension of the spring The next step in the adjustment consist-s grinding results and no surface.

position during the grinding' surrounding 1 the rod which is n -loosely,

mounted-in t'hezfear57 from th'e housing :33 v

and at "the other end against-a stop 59 which is loosened and rests then 7 against the ear- 57,

and the" ear 58 from thebearingiM; Tliis' springat -o-neendbears againsflthe ear958 {-is adjustableonvf the rod 156: and tightened thereon, :by the 'screw*"6Q. When the appa'-. 'ratus. is idle or being adjusted, -tlie* stop :59"

fore described, the stop 59 is ineved to the that enters a recess 62; in-the. 'li'ub o ff thel L grinding uobeginJ-w.

t-helens blank i housing member extends upward from the frame, and surrounds]aipart of V the. lens: holding mechanism, as" seen in .Fig; 3. e u

It is to be remembered that-the grinder is rotating all the time and when a lens l10ld,'.

ing mechanism is set, as shown in Fig. 6,

with a space between thesleeve 37 and the stop 50 equal to the thickness of the glass desired to be ground, and'the spring 55 through the intermediate mechanism' is yieldingly forcing the spindle 35 and lens ioo block and lens blank towards thegrinder, f

and'the lens is being rotated, the lens will be ground by this machine until the stop 52 engagesjthe'sleeve. 37, as shown in Fig. 2;

feeding movement of the spindle lens holder and lens blank towards the grinder s'o that no further grinding can take place,'jalthough the grinder is still rotating; Aftenthe lens blank'has'been ground, as shown in Fig. 2, the operator releases the spring stop 59 and I thereby the tension of the spring 55 and then releases the clamp 41 and housing 33-a nd} moves the lens holding mechanism away lens block and lens blank and torep-lace them with another lens block andlens, blank to beground. shown'in- Fig. '3.

mechanism. is the stop "50 and associated This is the idleposition, as

Onevaluable feature ofthis lens holding V from the grinder far enoughto remove the I r parts which enable the machineto automatically grind the lens to the desired extent and Y without the attention of the operator. This enables one operator-to managea largenum ber of lens holdingmechanisms He does not have to give any attention to'the lens holding mechanism until after the lens. blank has been ground, and lie does not have'to'give' 105' This stop automatically stops the-advance 011" V V 3 finished,' for the,

further or exoesslve grinding of the lens blank after it has'beeensufficiently 1 time after the @lens blank has been ground:

sufficiently. v

V 'Thequali'ty o fwbi bf the niechanism; 'howevenesults chiefly from theline grind? -iing' and froni the fact that the axes oflooth the grindenand the lens'holder'are fixed and relatively immovable and there is no chance it; is deemed necessary or eaohfoperation for the machine isonee set, it may -be operated for ajconslderable length-of time,- 5

jofj'the 'slightest false movement of the lens blank and grinder during the grinding open.

ation. This renders the grinding mechanifc'allyperfeet as long as thefg'rinding surface 'ofthe-grinderis nine and in ordento'do good Work, it] is necessarjzfthat it'b'e kept true by loeingtrued 11p, sayyonce a'day, or Whenever desirable. The 'gage plate is'ln'otf iise'd When [before a change in the adjustment may be stop :50 will prevent any ground, 7 even if the operator,.does not' give attention, to the lens holding; in'echanisin for soniej V thespindle near the-lens block, a frame hav V fontheouten portion" of they ring a bearing The invention elaimed is: w

A ,machine for grinding lenses a otary grinder, a lens.;l10lding spindle ar-" 30 I the lens against "the grinder,

wranged tohold V I a lens; blocl (on one endxofithespindle,

meansffor rotating the. spindle, a collar, on

spindle, a split housing on said f ame, a

bearing sleevein said housing having a ra'ek onrt'he underside theifeof and in which the]; v i inner portion of {the spindle is rotatably" I p gitu dinally movin the slee-vewhenthe hous he nioved inward mounted, means engag ngthe raok'ffoi lon 3" 7 '40 4 ing is not clamped, Whei eby the sleevefmay p j Y against the collar inordei 1 'to; move the spindle to workin position pre lilninai y to the'grinding opefation'andjWitn drawn after'thegrinding operation," means for clamping the housing and yielding 5 means for urging thespindle towards the grmder.

V In Witness Whereof I have hereuntolaflined my signatnre.

LUCIAN. WQBUGBEE 

